Tuesday, February 2, 2016

#DefendBlackGirlsUAlbany Movement on Alumni Quad

It is no surprise that racism is still alive and well in 2016. The behavior of the few have constituted a revival of the old. Movements based on race emerged throughout 2015, the most common being the Black Lives Matter Movement. Anyone that identified as African American or Black, was touched by the events that occurred beginning with police brutalities. The tragedy that struck UAlbany on January 30th shook the university. Three African American girls claimed that they were attacked by a group on 10-12 White students on the 11 bus, heading towards campus. As the CHARGE Peer Educator of a highly diverse quad, a sense of panic seemed to fill the air with whispers at every table in the Dining Hall. Everyone was fearful of speaking of the events that had occurred, no less at the eve of Black History Month. Questions left and right are brought up in hushed conversations and assumptions were made.

Clear facts of the whole situation were not entirely brought to light. The fear for Alumni was in the diversity of the quad. If this tragedy has taught us anything, it is that diversity does not equal inclusion. I can understand the need for safety because a female that identifies as Black, it was a little nerve-racking stepping onto an 11 bus to head uptown. You just never know. Any information that has come to light in recent days should not negate the fact that at the end of the day, 3 girls were beaten so bad that they had to go to the hospital to get checked out. Racially motivated or just an act of violence, does not stop the idea that this environment became unsafe. I did not attend the rally because I personally felt that it was premature and too hasty of a tactic without enough information on the table to present. Black women carry the double jeopardy of life by having race and gender against them in this society. This circumstance should not be taken lightly given the current state of nation on a racial level.